Twilight, Part Four
Twilight, the Final Chapter: The Power of Love is the thirty-fifth issue of Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season Eight comic book series. It was written by Brad Meltzer and illustrated by Georges Jeanty. Joss Whedon is the executive producer. Synopsis Brad Meltzer concludes his blockbuster run on Buffy Season Eight! After last issue's climactic encounter between Buffy and the unmasked Twilight, the Slayer army's entire mission has been altered and the true nature of the threat they face has been revealed. Everyone is in place to confront the Big Bad once and for all as Buffy's most epic season races toward the final arc, written by Joss Whedon!“Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season 8 #35 (Jo Chen cover)”. Dark Horse Comics. Retrieved April 30, 2019. Summary Still on the Twilight plane with Angel, Buffy is convinced that the Twilight realm is a trap, ready for the enemy to come like they always seem to. Angel keeps trying to convince Buffy that the Twilight realm is not a trap, and they look out over the landscape and see no demons rushing to attack them. Buffy doesn’t understand why, and Angel tells her that the demons will always attack until they, don’t have to anymore. Suddenly, their clothing are magically changed from the Greek antiquity outfits into Indian outfits, and the pair is also magically whisked away to a tropical island at sunset. Back at Twilight HQ, the Scoobies are preparing for the demons to attack while trying to understand what has happened to Buffy and Angel. Giles says that the story of Twilight was always thought to be a Watcher’s myth drummed up to explain the beginning of the universe. Although, Willow doesn’t understand how Giles could have known about this since before he met Buffy and not say anything, while Xander wants to know why the power of this place turned Angel into a killer. Giles notes that he haven't exactly killed anyone, but Xander cuts him off and asks if them being attacked by hordes of demons is still part of the universe’s plan to balance the scales. Giles explains there is no balance in the universe anymore: the demons attacking from different dimensions is the result of Buffy and Angel’s ascension into the Twilight realm, and the old dimensions are bleeding into what have now became an expendable seat of power up for the taking. Dawn yells that there are currently five tears in the dimensional wall — six including a new one in Burma as found by Satsu. Amy is looking through a magical sphere and noting that the demons are close to invading their perimeters, while Xander orders Kennedy to put a global alert out to all Slayer cells in the world, he wants them to be in a holding pattern at whichever entry point they’re closest to. Meanwhile, off to the side, Andrew and Warren are still fighting over the shield, as each still claims ownership. Suddenly, a large demon attacks the pair, and Andrew shields Warren, but the demon breaks through it and knocks Andrew down, causing him to bleed badly. Warren calls for help and manages to conjure a deflective shield to protect for them both. Amy asks the General if Warren remembers their plan to kill all of the Scoobies when the demon threat is over, and the General simply replies with that they need to take care of the demons first before the other problem. He then questions whether Angel realizes the consequences of his actions with Buffy. In Twilight, Buffy and Angel discuss their recent sexual escapades, and Buffy questions whether it really happened or if she is stuck in some dream. Angel reassures her that they have ascended and are finally free. Buffy can detect the doubt in his words and calls him Twilight, asking if he knows much more than she does. Angel tells her to look around at where they are, what has happened to them, and then tells her the only way they got to this realm of pleasure is with each other. She tells him that if he is saying they are in heaven or some imitation of it, she will hit him. As she walks away from him, Angel tells her she can joke as much as she wants but that will not change where they are. Suddenly their outfits change again, and Buffy is instead wearing a long black dress, while Angel is now a black doublet and gold buttons with pants and black boots. Angel continues to tell Buffy about the realm of Twilight and how it “reacts” to them, and as he speaks these words, the tropical island suddenly becomes a club. Buffy questions about her own clothing, and, as Angel’s doublet is replaced by a chemise, he explains that what she is wearing is a Spanish mourning dress worn by a Slayer from the late 1590’s while he is wearing the garments of a vampire this particular Slayer fought. He explains as well that the Indian outfits they wore earlier were from an Indian Slayer and vampire from the 17th century. He pushes her to feel the power of the realm as he does, and to think of it as a higher plane for them, but Buffy still refuses to believe it and walks out the door. She enters a blank space wearing a 70's outfit, comparing it to cartoons. Angel tells Buffy that this realm is their paradise, and that it changes when they want to, into what they want, as is the true meaning of paradise — whatever you make it. Buffy now wants to find where her friends are and Angel tells her they are where they always are — exactly where she wants them to be. She orders that they be right there and she manages to rip a hole in the dimensional wall and see the battle going on. She asks Angel if the demons attacking is their fault, and he doesn’t quite give her a definite answer but tells her they can fix it. He also says that, after all the centuries of fighting, the universe they are going to make is not going to be just a place where they can be together, but where they can be happy. Back amidst the battle, Faith carries an injured Andrew from the fray as Warren uses his deflective shield to hold the demons back. Xander comes to help Faith, who says that these demons are unlike anything they have ever encountered before, and grimly states that even with their powers back, the Slayers are outmatched and certainly going to be slaughtered. Meanwhile, Amy and Willow are working the magicks as best they can, but their containment spells are failing and they ponder teleportation spells and using them on either them or the demons. Amy is gravely injured by a demon and knocked unconscious, and as Willow tends to her, she blasts magic at the demon and manages to sever both of his arms. Back in the Twilight realm, Angel and Buffy continue to watch the battle from the tear in the dimensional wall. Angel tries to close the tear and assure Buffy that her friends will be fine without her, as they were when she died. Buffy remains unconvinced of this, and tells Angel he doesn’t care and can live with the knowledge that they won’t survive this battle. Angel reminds her that he doesn’t know the outcome, and that the only certainty that lies on the earthly realm is that the world will end. With both now dressed with clothes from the 1980s, Buffy reminds Angel that she needs to fight for her friends and family, not for happiness or humanity, but for them and them alone. Angel tells her that she has done her fighting for them, that where they are is the end of the earthly dimension and the beginning of a new era, which they have to do leaving behind the earthly plane. As Xander cries out for her help, Buffy becomes more certain in her decision to go back, despite being meant to ascend to Twilight, noting that she never does what she is meant to do. Angel tries to get her to stay and ascend with him, and asks her if she is going to halt everything the universe spent millions of years putting into motion; with a quick “yup”, Buffy starts to exit through the tear. She looks back at Angel with a sad look. Angel closes his eyes for a moment and says "okay, let's go." Buffy tells Angel that she missed him, to which Angel replies "I missed you too." As Buffy and Angel change into their own clothes, they exit through the tear together. In a flash, the pair takes on the demons with ease, leaving Xander, Giles, and Dawn in amazement. Willow tells Angel he better hope what he has coming to him for all he has done doesn’t come to pass. Buffy, while flying, juggles numerous demons above her head with one hand, as she fights another with her other hand. She tries to apologize to Willow for what has been happening, but Willow quickly forgives her. Dawn notes that according to her scanner, there is another attack coming; only this time, the attacker has a weapon. Willow uses magic to see the attacker coming, and realizes that what is coming is instead a transportation device. Suddenly, the device comes crashing in and manages to squash some of the demons. As the group looks at the new arrival, a door opens and someone comes walking out. Its operator says that, if they want to end all of this demon and Twilight nonsense, that he can help them. The mysterious operator turns out to be Spike. Continuity *Giles mentions Angel haven't killed as Twilight, but had a significant influence in his subjects; in Live Through This, Part One, Nadira would describe that he only watched as Pearl and Nash massacred the Slayers of her squad. *Xander coins the term "Placenturian" for the interdimensional demons pouring into Earth after the birth of Twilight dimension. Xander will also notably coin the term zompire in the following year (Freefall, Part Three). *In a campaign to fix Angel's image, Harmony will tell her assistant to start a rumor that Angel was going to take good humans to Twilight with him once the new universe was ready. Angel then complains to her that this was already his intention at the time (In Perfect Harmony). *Spike debuts in the season, having last seen the Scooby Gang in "Chosen". He arrives with the ship he escaped with its crew in Stranger Things. Willow, who apparently recognizes it, had left his company in the same night the ship landed on Las Vegas (Something Borrowed). Appearances Individuals *Angel *The General *Rupert Giles *Xander Harris *Kennedy *Faith Lehane *Amy Madison *Warren Mears *Willow Rosenberg *Satsu *Spike *Buffy Summers *Dawn Summers *Andrew Wells *Unidentified Indian Slayer *Unidentified Slayer (1590s) Organizations and titles *Placenturian *Scooby Gang *Slayer *Slayer Organization *Watcher *Witch Species *Demon **Orc *Human *Vampire Locations *Dreamspace *Earth **Burma **Twilight headquarters *Twilight Weapons and objects *Spike's ship *Stake *Superhero Armor Death count *Unknown number of Slayers, killed by Placenturian demons. *Unknown number of Placenturian demons, killed by Willow, Buffy, Angel, and other Slayers. Behind the scenes Production *In order to avoid revealing Angel's identity as Twilight ahead of time, the solicitation for this issue had a bogus cover in which Angel's face was covered in Twilight's mask. *Georges Jeanty’s variant cover homages Uncanny X-Men #138 (1980) by John Byrne. In the background, it features covers from the following past Buffy issues: Wu-Tang Fang, Slayer, Interrupted, Part Two, A Boy Named Sue, Double Cross, Past Lives, Part Two, New Kid on the Block, Part One, The Death of Buffy, Part Two, Note from the Underground, Part One, The Long Way Home, Part One, Ugly Little Monsters, Part One, "Omnibus: Volume 1", No Future for You, Part One, Time of Your Life, Part One, Retreat, Part Three, Lover's Walk, and The Origin, Part Two. Distribution *'' '' was the 36th best selling comic issue in its publishing month, with 45,446 sales in May 2010 at comic specialty stores.“Top 300 Comics Actual--May 2010”. ICv2, June 18, 2010. Retrieved April 30, 2019. Collections *"Twilight" *"Season 8 Library Edition, Volume 4" *"Omnibus: Season 8, Volume 2" Pop culture references *Buffy compares the Twilight dimension's empty space with a Daffy Duck cartoon. *Angel notices the Twilight dimension's paradise appearance is based on the Garden of Eden. Gallery Cover artwork B8-35-00b.jpg|Jo Chen cover B8-35-01b.jpg|Georges Jeanty variant Preview B8-35-P1.jpg B8-35-P2.jpg B8-35-P3.jpg B8-35-P4.jpg B8-35-P5.jpg Quotes References nl:Twilight, Deel Vier Category:Buffy comics Category:Season Eight